When Doughboys Become Doughmen

Doughboys Doughnuts is opening a permanent city store.

Photography: Peter Tarasiuk

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Photography: Peter Tarasiuk

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Photography: Peter Tarasiuk

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Published on 26 May 2015

by Sofia Levin

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We interrupted owner Walter McKenzie, as he was moving out of his previous set-up at the Mercat Cross Hotel in North Melbourne. He’s temporarily moving over to Richmond, where the doughboys and doughgirls will continue supplying Melbourne with wholesale, hand-dipped treats at other cafes until the new site on the corner of Bourke and Williams Streets is complete.

The space, designed by interior architect Sarah Cosentino, will feature marble finishes, leather bench seating, a couple of round timber tables and a small, standing-only bar.

“It’s all about the production. It’s not really designed for people to sit around all day eating doughnuts and drinking coffee,” says McKenzie. “Everything can be seen, from the rolling of dough through to a dip station, it’s all on show. Everything will be made onsite, we’re even roasting and grinding our own nuts to make different nut pastes.”

Doughnut devotees can expect a dipping station in true Doughboys style, with a dozen creations on display including staple flavours and rotating specials. Small Batch coffee will be the chaser of choice in what McKenzie describes as an alignment of quality doughnuts and some of Melbourne’s best coffee.

Although McKenzie admits it has taken him longer than he would have liked to open his own site (the first Doughboys pop up was back in 2013 at Mr Nice Guy), he’s now generated enough funds to leave two years of pop-ups and shared spaces behind.

“This is something I’ve been working towards since the start, product testing out in the market in Melbourne. There’s been a rapid expansion with doughnuts, not only in Melbourne, but all over Australia, so we’re really excited to see how it goes.”

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Update as of July 15, 2015Doughboys Doughnuts was originally slated to open at 535 Bourke Street (St James Square retail precinct) in mid July, initially on weekdays and then daily. The opening has now been delayed for a September / October opening.